Governor's Ball

            So this past weekend a couple of friends and I went to the Governor's Ball Music Festival in Randall's Island, an island in New York City. This is my second ever music festival (I went to Firefly last year) and I have to say the experience was really different. But nevertheless, pretty damn awesome.

Since it was held in New York, I correctly assumed that the people would be more pushy and aggressive. The stereotype of New Yorkers is most of the time somewhat accurate. Getting to front row at a stage used to be such an easy task but this time it was almost impossible, even if you got there 8 hours before the artist even came on. There some crazy fans out there.

But other than the fanatics, there were also the calm music goers that attended more for the experience and the atmosphere that the music festival exudes. They brought blankets and sheets of all colours and patterns, laying them out haphazardly on the slightly damp grass. They'd sip on cider and enjoy the music from afar.

I wish I could've been a part of that. Since some of my favourite bands were playing, I couldn't help but try to squeeze and push my way to the front. For some artists, the struggle was worth it. But for others, seeing them up close was not worth being trampled over and having no personal space whatsoever.

The lineup this year included Vampire Weekend (!!), Foster the People, Phoenix, The Strokes, Outkast (since I didn't grow up in the U.S., they were completely foreign to my childhood), Bastille, Disclosure, Empire of the Sun, The Head and the Heart, The Naked and Famous, J. Cole, The 1975, Axwell & Ingrosso, Childish Gambino and much more.

The first day kicked off to an amazing start with Bastille and its quirky but so so cute lead singer Dan Smith. His dance moves were kind of awkward but you loved him anyway not only because of his voice but also because of his adorable charm.

I apologize ahead of time for my lack of quality in my pictures. I only brought my iPhone and since I still have the 4S, the pictures taken were quite poor. Just bear with me here.

Also, gotta love the keyboardist. Yes, he hung the bra someone threw at them on his microphone.

After Bastille, we headed to the main stage to see Phoenix and Outkast. Phoenix is from Versailles, France, which is surprising why they've never released an album in French.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, I got to touch Thomas Mars' butt (lead singer of Phoenix) when he crowd surfed.

Marvel at his sweaty, French complexion. He's also married to Sofia Coppola, one of my favourite directors who made The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, and The Bling Ring.

For me, Outkast was not particularly outstanding as they're the epitome of old school rap and if you didn't grow up with their music, there's no appreciation of it either. But don't get me wrong, they were still pretty good.

The second day we saw a couple random bands here and there as well as Disclosure, Childish Gambino, and Skrillex.

Cute British brothers alert. AlunaGeorge also made an appearance to sing for "White Noise".

Also, I'd like to mention that apparently MADONNA was watching Disclosure too from the side, literally 20 feet away from us and we didn't see her...biggest regret of the year.

I guess touching Childish Gambino doesn't seem like a big deal anymore...

Chance the Rapper came on and performed with him for a bit.

I have to say, Donald Glover (Gambino) is one of the best performers I've ever seen. He has so much energy and passion on stage that it transcends to everyone in the audience. Plus, his stage effects are pretty cool too:

It was sunset, and we headed to the back of the crowd for Skrillex, who's whole persona and music style still creeps me out a little. I mean, he has all these jumping viral particles and bugs on his screen while performing. But the strobe lights were pretty awesome:

I tried to take a panorama but it kind of failed...

The third day started off pretty well. Since my favourite band Vampire Weekend is headlining and closing off the entire music festival, we decided to stay at one stage the entire day in hopes of being front row for them. My good friend is in love with Foster the People, whom I also adore, and they were scheduled to perform right before Vampire Weekend so it all worked out.

Before Foster though, I got to see The Head and the Heart perform. I only knew a couple songs by them and since I loved those songs (exactly my type of music), I expected to really enjoy them live. And I did. Their harmonizing was so on point and beautiful.

Then, it was time for Foster the People! Wow, Mark Foster.

He gets so into his music and honestly is just a super talented and perfect individual.

Typical Mark Foster being Jesus.

Vampire Weekend was next and I could not contain myself. But when they eventually came on, the crowd went so crazy I couldn't even focus on the music anymore. There was so much shoving -- you were literally pushed up against every single person around you with no space to breathe. It was terrible. But watching Ezra Koenig (lead singer) and Chris Baio (bassist) perform was such an immense enjoyment.

There's Ezra being Ezra. But seriously, as much as I love him, what the heck was he wearing...

Baio dancing on the right -- my guilty pleasure.

We ended up heading to Axwell & Ingrosso for the end of the festival. As we were leaving, we ended up seeing more fireworks from the stage they were performing. Perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Day 1 outfit:

(left)

top: h&m

denim shorts: aeropostale

shoes: h&m

sunglasses: h&m

watch: Michael Kors

Day 2 outfit:

(right) 

halter top: aeropostale 

skirt: asos

  shoes: h&m

Day 3 outfit:

(right) 

dress: asos 

bag: macy's 

sunglasses: h&m

All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful experience.